INDISPENSABLE: a library’s one stone strategy to improve graduate student research skills, meet faculty research demands and contribute to graduate student retention

At Pace University and other master and doctoral universities and colleges, Graduate Students are not usually among the systematically targeted. In the fall of 2016, I undertook to specifically target Graduate Assistants (GA’s) working for faculty in research assistantships. Securing an academic assistantship is a coveted and competitive endeavor, but if the GA does not have the required research skills they can be out after only one semester. While being aware of university retention goals and the gap between GA research skills and faculty research demands, I started a pilot project of creating GA research workshops based on the specific needs of an academic department. My presentation will focus on the variety, number and content of GA research workshops taught, tips for partnering with academic assistant deans, staff and faculty and systems for creating measurable outcomes that make the role of the library indispensable in the minds of graduate students and faculty. This is just one example of a controlled targeted program to support graduate students AND faculty. Time permitting, this session could include a pair and share activity for participants to talk about the likelihood of instituting a similar program in their libraries and what they imagine the pitfalls or progress to be

The effect of multisensory instruction on semantic knowledge of students with SLI

This research synthesis focuses on the effectiveness of multisensory approaches as a model for intervention for students with specific language disorders (SLI). The practices constituting the focus of this synthesis contain the following characteristics: (1) the intervention incorporates more than one sensory modality in method for teaching semantic skills and (2) the therapy targets semantic knowledge by increasing awareness of semantic features. Studies reviewed in this synthesis failed to control for possible threats to validity that could contribute to outcomes to the intervention. Furthermore, small sample sizes limited conclusions that can be made regarding the effectiveness of interventions. Therefore, there is not enough available research evidence to conclude that multisensory intervention is appropriate for targeting semantic skills for students with SLI.Communication Sciences and Disorder

Ethical Dilemmas for Social Workers Utilizing NASW Code of Ethics in Rural K-12 Public Schools

This qualitative study’s purpose is to explore the ethical dilemmas unique to social workers who serve clients in rural k-12 public schools while adhering to the Code of Ethics as determined by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). It examines how social workers practicing in the school setting use a Code of Ethics specific to the social work profession, which varies in its core values and ethical standards when compared to the Code of Ethics For Minnesota Teachers used by teachers, principals and administrators who make up the professional majority in the host setting

Problem Solving as a Pedagogical Practice: Useful Conceptions of Professional Learning

Problem solving as a pedagogical practice is a recent focus of mathematics education research and of professional learning. This study employs the phenomenographic framework for studying teachers’ conceptions of ongoing professional learning opportunities focused on the teaching of mathematics through problem solving. Eleven grade 7 to 8 school teachers who participated in ongoing professional learning over the course of one to five years were purposively selected. Survey method was employed. Findings from the study reveal that most teachers view professional learning mainly as a source for ideas and resources, whereas others hold more complex views ranging from viewing professional learning as an opportunity for sharing strategies with colleagues, to seeing professional learning as an opportunity for deepening understandings of learning, and as a catalyst for change in practices of teaching mathematics. The study recommends teacher professional development programs to focus on developing more sophisticated conceptions of professional learning among teachers

Edge-colouring graphs with local list sizes

The famous List Colouring Conjecture from the 1970s states that for every graph $G$ the chromatic index of $G$ is equal to its list chromatic index. In 1996 in a seminal paper, Kahn proved that the List Colouring Conjecture holds asymptotically. Our main result is a local generalization of Kahn's theorem. More precisely, we show that, for a graph $G$ with sufficiently large maximum degree $\Delta$ and minimum degree $\delta \geq \ln^{25} \Delta$, the following holds: for every assignment of lists of colours to the edges of $G$, such that $|L(e)| \geq (1+o(1)) \cdot \max\left\{\rm{deg}(u),\rm{deg}(v)\right\}$ for each edge $e=uv$, there is an $L$-edge-colouring of $G$. Furthermore, Kahn showed that the List Colouring Conjecture holds asymptotically for linear, $k$-uniform hypergraphs, and recently Molloy generalized Kahn's original result to correspondence colouring as well as its hypergraph generalization. We prove local versions of all of these generalizations by showing a weighted version that simultaneously implies all of our results.Comment: 22 page

Strategies to Foster Employee Engagement Before, During, and After Organizational Mergers

Engaged employees contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization’s service to their community. Many organizational leaders struggle to engage their employees before, during, and after organizational mergers. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies 9 leaders from 3 merged higher education organizations in the state of Georgia used to encourage employee engagement when their organizations were merging. The conceptual framework for this study was a combination of the transformational leadership theory, the self-efficacy theory, and the acquisition integration approach. After collecting data through semistructured interviews, organizational documentation, and member checking, data analysis through thematic review and triangulation revealed 4 key themes. The major themes for engaging employees during mergers were: strategies establishing a communication plan; strategies creating a cohesive culture, identity, or team; strategies mitigating barriers to employee engagement; and strategies assessing successful implementation for ongoing modification and adjustment of engagement strategies. The implications of this study for social change are that engaged employees might increase the institution’s productivity in educating students to be more successful in the workforce after graduating, and therefore, have a greater capacity to provide for their families and strengthen their communities

Expression and upregulation of cathepsin S and other early molecules required for antigen presentation in activated hepatic stellate cells upon IFN-γ treatment

AbstractHepatic stellate cells (HSCs) have been shown to be able to activate T-cells and upregulate expression of surface molecules essential for this process, when treated with IFN-γ. But little is known about the early molecules expressed by activated hepatic stellate cells under the same treatment. In this study, we investigate the effect of IFN-γ on the transcription and expression of these early molecules in hepatic stellate cells. We show on the molecular level that activated rat hepatic stellate cells express the class II transactivator, the invariant chain (CD74), the MHC class II molecules, as well as cathepsin S, all of which are known to be responsible for the initial steps of successful antigen presentation. The mRNA and the protein expression level of these molecules is upregulated by IFN-γ. Importantly, IFN-γ increases cathepsin S activity, suggesting a possible involvement of this protease in CD74 processing. Our data also show that not only can the HSCs take up antigenic proteins, they can also process them. Our comparative study indicates that the rat HSC-T6 cell line displays sufficient similarity to the activated rat HSCs in order to serve as a model for in vitro studies on the molecular mechanisms of inflammatory response

Trans-disciplinary research approaches: integration of fluid mechanics with cell biology

At the level of the individual molecule, outstanding discoveries leading the the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry clarified G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) crystallographic structures and functions. Nevertheless, a large number of such receptors cooperate to ultimately determine the cell response. Henceforth, understanding their group effects becomes crucial to predict the activity of the GPCRs populating the various cell aggregates

Die Digitalisierung von Verwaltungsleistungen : die Auswirkungen auf die Bearbeitungszeit am Beispiel des eUmzugCH

Durch die Einführung von eUmzugCH wurde der Umzugsprozess für meldepflichtige Personen in der Schweiz digitalisiert. Die Einwohnerinnen und Einwohner sind nicht mehr auf die begrenzten Öffnungszeiten der Verwaltungen angewiesen, um ihren Zu-, Weg- oder Umzug zu melden. Durch eUmzugCH sollen Zuzüge verwaltungsintern effizienter abgewickelt werden können. Diese Studie soll Aufschluss darüber geben, inwiefern die Einführung von eUmzugCH den Arbeitsaufwand der Einwohnerkontrolle beeinflusst. Es wurden insgesamt vier Einwohnerkontrollen ausgewählt, bei welchen die Ausführungen von Anmeldungen von meldepflichtigen Personen am Schalter oder über eUmzugCH zu einer der Haupttätigkeiten gehört und bei welchen die Ausführung dieses Prozesses ähnlich häufig durchgeführt wird. Für die Datenerhebung wurde das Laufzettelverfahren angewendet, mit dem die Prozesszeiten bei der Bearbeitung des eUmzugs und am Schalter erhoben werden können. Die Datenanalyse wurde unter Verwendung von LMER (Linear Mixed-Effects Models) durchgeführt. Die Auswertung der Daten des Laufzettelverfahrens in vier Gemeinden im Kanton Zürich zeigt, dass die Einführung von eUmzugCH zu einer Reduktion des verwaltungsseitigen Arbeitsaufwands im Vergleich zu den Schalteranmeldungen von eUmzugCH führt. Es ist deutlich erkennbar, dass die Arbeitsausführung von Zuzügen über eUmzugCH von den Mitarbeitenden der Einwohnerkontrolle effizienter und schneller abgewickelt werden kann. Wie die Auswertungen der methodischen Erhebung zeigen, sind auch die Verzögerungen, die durch fehlende Unterlagen entstehen, bei den Zuzügen über eUmzugCH geringer. Die Einführung von eUmzugCH hat daher eine positive Auswirkung auf den Arbeitsaufwand der Einwohnerkontrolle